Lessons in Relationships
by blackfox-vixen
Summary: Dinosaurs were easy, they were creatures with incredible intuition. Men? Kagome firmly believed they were form Mars. And Owen Grady was their king.
1. Chapter 1

**Lessons in Relationships**

"Please Kagome."

Said woman groaned in exasperation as she rolled over in her bed, pulling the pillow over her head.

"Kagome, I need you to come with me," the voice continued through the trailer door.

"Name one reason why I should work on my day off!" Kagome struggled out of bed, dragging herself to the door.

"Because as the head Veterinarian of Jurassic World, you have an invaluable insight on the health and behaviors of dinosaurs and would be best qualified to assess our latest asset," the woman paused, choosing to continue with a softer tone,"...And I'm your best friend in the world, asking you for a favor."

The Japanese woman flung the door open, her own tired frown greeting the smiling redhead.

"Claire-"

"I'll love you forever."

* * *

"I can't believe you're dragging me along," Kagome grumbled, fumbling to twist her hair into a top bun, "I had plans y'know."

"Sleeping all day isn't a plan," Claire replied lightly with a smile.

"So says you. Where are we going anyways."

"Well...I have to pick up one more person," Claire responded eerily slowly, in a careful tone.

"Who?"

"..."

Kagome pulled her eyes away from the side window to the driver, "Claire...who?"

Her look said it all.

"Are you serious? Is this why you dragged me along? Just cause you had one bad dat-"

"It hardly was a date!" Claire protested vehemently, "he showed up in _boardshorts_ , Kagome. **And then!** He insisted on drinking tequila before we even ordered dinner! And you know what, he had the gall to mock my itinerary and and tell me to take a _**chill pill**_."

Kagome coughed to mask her growing smile. Every time this story came up, Claire's reaction only seemed to worsen...and her voice seemed to pitch higher each time too.

"AND, do you realize I would never have gone on that date if you hadn't pushed me to. So, if anything, you owe me cause I had to go through that."

"Claire," Kagome deadpanned, "You haven't gone on a date in _years_ , you needed to go out and spread your wings….I wasn't asking you to spread your legs."

"KAGOME!"

The Japanese woman giggled.

"Are you even going to get out of the car?"

"...You're one of the strongest women I know-"

"OH MY GOD CLAIRE."

"I KNOW I'M SORRY-"

The two shared a look before bursting into giggles.

* * *

"I've been trying to get you to come over here for a while now," Owen smirked, eyeing the petite woman making her way towards him, "But now that you're here, I'm oddly concerned...Or should I be excited?"

"You should always be excited to see me," Kagome drawled with a smile, enjoying the site of the Raptor Trainer working on his motorcycle. She in particular enjoyed seeing the white shirt cling to his arms.

Owen barked out a laugh, "I would be if we were alone...but I see with my little eye, something pristine white. What do they want now?"

Kagome didn't need to turn to know who he was gesturing to.

Kagome's smile grew wicked as she slaughtered over to the steps of his shack. With exaggerated flair, she sat laid on her side on his deck, head leaning against a popped arm. They shared growing smiles.

Much to Owen's delight.

" _Oh_ …or are you here for _pleasure_?"

Kagome's own laughter was cut short by the distinct sound of a car door slamming closed.

"Kagome! We're 2 minutes behind now!"

Kagome gapped, "I barely said anything! I didn't even get to ask! You expected me to get this done in 1 minute?!"

Claire's upturned nose had her rolling her eyes. Of course she did.

"I'm sorry, _what_? Get what done? And what does this have to do with me," Owen interrupted, standing as he took in the two women.

His marked change in tone and posture had Claire stiffening and Kagome's eyes turning weary.

"Mr. Grady-"

"Why are you calling me _**Mr**_. Grady?" He squinted at the woman in white, wiping his hands clean with a pocket cloth.

Claire glanced at Kagome with obvious exasperation, who in turned shrugged.

" _Owen_...I need you to come look at something, if you're not too busy. We have an attraction that-"

"Well first of all, I was pretty busy, with Ms. Kagome over there," on point the two looked back at the lounging woman. Owen let a small smile pass as she waved at them on cue.

"And second, as I distinctly remember, that is not what you said last time I saw you."

Claire immediately grimaced, "I'm talking about the dinosaurs, we have a new dinosaur, Mr. Grady."

The two staff members immediately looked thrown aback.

"You just went and _made_ a new dinosaur?"

"You did, what? I wasn't informed of this?"

Owen glanced at Kagome, taking note she seemed just as out of the loop as he was. He was pretty sure, at the very least she would be in the loop considering she led the dinosaur veterinary team.

" _Yes_ , it's kind of what we do here," Claire continued without hesitation,"The exhibit opens in three weeks and Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with the both of you. And...Kagome wasn't informed on the insistence of...Dr. Wu. At least until it was ready, which it is now and needs your evaluation and approval."

The Asian woman's face contorted into an unsavory expression.

The trainer's eyebrows immediately rose, the familiar mischievous glint taking his eyes. Owen turned towards the Veterinarian with swaggering, deliberate steps.

"You hear that Kagome? We're consultants now...should we _consult_ out here with Claire, or should we get to know each other first and _consult_ in my bungalow?"

Like clockwork Claire's eyes rolled and Kagome's own shaped into upside crescent moons as she laughed at his offer.

"I'm finally here and that's the best you've got?"

"That's not funny," Claire quipped, only feeling more and more tired.

Owen and Kagome peeled into short laughs, the male of the two making his way towards the shack whilst making care to step over the woman lying on his deck.

"It's a little funny.."

"It is," Kagome added with a smile.

Claire waited until Owen shuffled back towards the front.

"We'd like you to check the paddock for vulnerabilities."

"Why me?" He leaned against the railing, crossing his arms.

"I guess Mr. Masrani thinks since you're able to control the raptors…"

Kagome's shifted, no longer finding the floor comfortable.

"See? It's all about control with you," he rounded, offering his hand to Kagome when she moved to stand, "I don't control the raptors." Owen nodded at her as she accepted his hand with a smile.

"It's a relationship," he finished softly, staring at Kagome.

The later blinked in surprise.

Owen broke the state as he looked past her shoulder at the waiting Claire.

"It's based on mutual respect. That's why you and I never had a second date."

Claire glared at the man, then at Kagome as she tossed a hand in the man's direction in emphasis.

" **See**. And excuse me, I never wanted a second date!"

Kagome bit her lip in amusement and decided to move away from the stare down between the two. Instead moving over to his bike and sitting on the bucket he vacated.

"Who prints out an itinerary for a night out?!" Owen argued, following the smaller woman to his bike.

"Claire does, cause she's an organized, independent woman," Kagome provided, winking as Claire smiled at her brightly.

" _Exactly_ , thank you Kagome."

" _Pfft_ ," Owen noised as he took to sitting beside Kagome on his toolbox, "Also, who doesn't have tequila as part of their diet?"

"All diets actually."

Owen looked at Kagome in betrayal.

"Sorry, but it is good for emotional dieting...once in a while," Kagome shrugged, finding herself slightly nervous at how close he was to her.

"Ha! Doctor's backing me up on this!"

"No she isn't! And you know what, I've told her how you showed up in boardshorts. Who shows up to a date in boardshorts!"

Owen glanced between Claire's fevered brows and Kagome's waiting face.

"It's **hot** , okay. It's Central America," he defended.

"If it was that hot, you should've just gone to the beach. Then you'd get to see Claire in a bikini," Kagome commended casually, faintly hearing Claire gasp in indignation.

"Huh, good point. But I'd rather take you if that's the case," Owen waggled his eyebrows, laughing as Kagome pushed his shoulder jokingly.

" _Alright_ , children. Can we please focus on the asset?"

"The _asset_?" The tone shifted once more as Owen stopped tinkering and stood up,"I understand you're in charge out here. You gotta make tough decisions. It's probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spreadsheet. But they're not...they're alive. Kagome has to deal with animals getting sick, getting hurt. They have feelings Claire."

"I'm fully aware they're alive," Claire replied firmly.

Owen stared at her, as if searching for something. To which Claire stood firmly, she had a job to do and wasn't going to back down now.

He seemed to get some sort of answer as he sat back down.

"You might've made them in a test tube, but they don't know that. They're thinking, I gotta _eat_ , I gotta _hunt_ , I gotta- "

It took a split second for Kagome to catch his meaning as he pumped his fist beside her.

"You can relate to at least one of those things. I know Kagome here does," Owen turned in his seat, placing the Japanese woman between his legs.

Claire looked between the man and her friend with raised brows.

"You'd only be so _lucky_ , if you got Kagome. I'll be waiting in the car. And change your clothes, it has a keen sense of smell!"

The two watched Claire walk away with mixed emotion.

Kagome rolled her eyes, shaking her head the slightest,"Do you have one serious bone in your body _Mr. Grady_?"

"You'd know I have one _serious_ bone in my body if you ever accepted my invitation! **Gah**!" Owen fell back as Kagome kicked the the toolbox from underneath him.

Kagome giggled as she stood up, dusting her jeans.

"Oh Owen," Kagome tucked some stray hairs behind her ear, unaware of Owen's soft expression as he watched her, "If there was anything serious in your view on relationships other than the ones you have with your raptors, you wouldn't need to invite me over because I'd already be there."

She took to Claire's example and walked away from him.

"And you might want to change your shirt, seems like Claire doesn't want you on the menu~," Kagome sang.

"Yes ma'am…"


	2. Chapter 2

First Chapter updated.

* * *

Lessons in Relationships II

Kagome swiped a hand across her forehead as she took in the structure before her. Whatever they had created was big, meaning the paddock was already too small in her opinion. Another point added to her every growing list of complaints towards the geneticist responsible. Whatever he had said was able to sway the board of directors that she would not be involved until it was already too late, she would have words with that Doctor.

A side swept look at her from the Raptor Trainer let her know her intent was very clearly written on her face.

"We've been pre-booking tickets for months. The park needs a new attraction every few years in order to reinvigorate the public's interest," Claire repeated in a well-versed pitch as she led them towards a side entrance, "Kind of like the space program. Corporate felt genetic modification would up the wow factor."

"They're dinosaurs. Wow enough," Owen commented flatly.

"Not according to our focus groups. The Indominus rex makes us relevant again."

"Indominus rex," Kagome and Owen chorused together with varying degrees of amusement and disbelief.

"We needed something scary and easy to pronounce," The redhead defended, "You should hear a four-year-old try to say 'Arachaeornithomimus.'"

"Oh, I am very impressed. Nice pronunciation," Kagome bumped Claire's shoulder playfully as they passed through the door.  
"Thank you. I aim to please."

The ladies shared a smile to Owen's eye roll.

The observation deck they were led to was stark and very open. Giant floor to ceiling windows lining the entire wall facing the paddock.

"Am I now _allowed_ to know what exactly was created? Let alone what was used," Kagome quipped, stopping before one of the window panels.

"The base genome is a T. Rex. The rest is...classified-"

"Claire!"

Kagome squared her shoulders, staring intently at Claire. Claire returned her stare before turning away with a frown.

"You made a new dinosaur, but you don't even know what it is?" Owen cut between the women, averting the Asian woman's discontent.

"The lab delivers us finished assets...and we show them to the public."

"I don't think you understand the sheer unknown territory we're entering by genetically engineering a creature from scratch Claire. Everything it does is brand new, it won't matter where the base DNA comes from," Kagome rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"I'd say so far the park has done a great job with our current dinosaur population-"  
"Claire, we barely know the cusp of what these dinosaurs can do. Not only that, our current dinosaurs are in essence not even pure replicas of what they once existed as!"

"Alright ladies, let's try and see what we're dealing with first. Okay?"

To Claire's relief, Owen placed a hand on the Asian woman's shoulder and steered her back towards the windows.

"I'm not done."

"I know you're not darling."

"Can we drop a steer, please?" Claire was ready to get this over with.

"How long has the animal been in here?"  
"All its life."

"Never seen anything outside of theses walls?"  
"We can't exactly walk it."

"What about health checks and developmental milestones?"

"We deferred those to the genetics team, they followed your notes closely on the development of T. Rex. babies."

Kagome grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms in anger.

The occupants of the room watched as a whole slab of cow flank was lowered into the paddock on a wire.

"And you feed it with...that?" Owen clicked his tongue.

"Is there a problem?" Claire turned towards the two profressionals.

"Animals raised in isolation aren't always the most functional," Owen answered, eyes narrowing as he watched the brush for any movement.

"Your raptors are born in captivity."

"The raptors are different, they were raised as siblings - they are a _pack_. They socialize not only with themselves but with the trainers and staff as well," Kagome answered in turn as she stepped closer to the window.

"I imprinted on them when they were born, there's a trust built into the relationship. The only positive relationship this animal has is with that crane. At least she knows that means food," Owen paced the wall, an uneasiness building in his form.

"So she needs a friend. We should schedule play dates? That sort of thing?"

"Considering how big this cage you built has become. I'd say it's too late for that," Kagome whispered, stepping away from the glass, "Something isn't right. Have you guys already fed it today?"  
"No, this is it's first meal today," The security guard quipped.

"Where is it?" Claire tapped on the glass impatiently.

"Yeah, what, is it in the basement?" Owen bit sarcastically, "Downstairs? Maybe it's in the rec room."

Kagome had at that point made her way towards one of the corners.

"It was just here. We were just here!" Claire made her way towards the control panel, disbelief written on her face.

" _ **Owen**_ ," Kagome's called out as her jaw dropped.

The Raptor trainer made his way behind her, stopping just behind her.

"Oh...shit," He croaked, his chest pressing against her back as he leaned forward for a closer look.

"Claire..come here," Kagome whispered.

Just as Claire turned to look, Owen pointed up towards the edge of the windows.

"Were those claw marks always there?"

Deep gashes were gouged into the cement walls, trailing above the midway point.

"She has an implant in her back," Claire gasped, quickly making her way back out,"I can track it from the control room."

"Claire! You're going out there? It might be out there already, can't you just call from here," Kagome jumped to step in front of her friend.

"I can't Kagome, the reception here is shoddy, I need to get closer to the main buildings. I'll be quick and safe, I promise," The redhead attempted to side step the smaller woman.

"I'll go with you."  
"No, Kagome I need you to stay here just in case something happened to it. If it's hurt-"

"Claire! I'm not letting you go out there **alone**!"

"I won't be alone Kagome! You saw how many people were outside, nothing's happened yet!"  
Kagome pursed her lips and opened her mouth to continue protesting but was stopped by two heavy hands landing on her shoulders.

"Come on Kagome, stay here with me. She'll be okay, we can't be the famous duo without my Doctor," Owen eased, nodding towards Claire as he pulled Kagome far enough for the woman to escape.

They watched as Claire flew down the stairs and out towards her car, they remained still until the car peeled out.

A bony elbow promptly dug into his side, causing him to flinch.

"If something happens to her, your ass is mine."

"It's yours regardless."

Kagome glared up at Owen's crooked grin before turning towards the security guard.

"Run the scan again, make sure it's not in the paddock," She ordered firmly, "We need to know how it got out of there."

Owen's smirk dropped, a grim look taking over, "We need to get in there."

Kagome's nodded slowly.


End file.
